Welcome to Roses & Thorns. All books receive honest reviews, regardless of our sources. We are no longer accepting submissions. While the blog will remain live, I cannot continue reviewing books. My own writing is suffering from keeping up with two blogs. I will post my last review on May 29, 2017. Thank you Rose and Donna for your help, authors for the (mostly) great reading, and readers for following us.

Roses & Thorns

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Ill Fares The Land by Tony Judt

Blurb:

Something
is profoundly wrong with the way we think about how we should live today.

InIll Fares The Land, Tony Judt, one
of our leading historians and thinkers, reveals how we have arrived at our
present dangerously confused moment. Judt masterfully crystallizes what we've
all beenfeelinginto a way tothinkour way into, and thus out of, our great
collective dis-ease about the current state of things.

As the
economic collapse of 2008 made clear, the social contract that defined postwar
life in Europe and America—the guarantee of a basal level of security,
stability and fairness—is no longer guaranteed; in fact, it's no longer part of
the common discourse. Judt offers the language we need to address our common
needs, rejecting the nihilistic individualism of the far right and the debunked
socialism of the past. To find a way forward, we must look to our not so distant
past and to social democracy in action: to re-enshrining fairness over mere
efficiency.

Distinctly
absent from our national dialogue, social democrats believe that the state can
play an enhanced role in our lives without threatening our liberties. Instead
of placing blind faith in the market-as we have to our detriment for the past
thirty years-social democrats entrust their fellow citizens and the state
itself.

Ill
Fares the Landchallenges
us to confront our societal ills and to shoulder responsibility for the world
we live in. For hope remains. In reintroducing alternatives to the status quo,
Judt reinvigorates our political conversation, providing the tools necessary to
imagine a new form of governance, a new way of life.

Review:

This
author, Tony Judt, expounds his personal theories in a treatise on what’s economically
and politically wrong in America and Britain and how to right it in his book, Ill Fares the Land.

I
did not find his subject matter to be particularly interesting in the way he
presented it, although his theories are somewhat thought-provoking if one assumes that he is correct in his assertions.
One difficulty I had with his book was the lack of credible argument to support
his thesis. Another issue was the lack of reference citations at times when he
stated facts and figures. I tried to research his qualifications for writing about
this particular topic and found his background to be extensive in history, but
it was not clear to me that he has delved to any degree in the area of
economics and/or politics. He fails to include other important and relevant
aspects of society in what he presents, and he borders on fear-mongering at
times.

I
also found myself distracted by minor details that were disruptive to reading
and led me away from the original point he was trying to make. For example,
this statement has a certain amount of ambiguity for me: “But if we think we
know what is wrong, we must act upon the knowledge.” I believe anyone can
understand his intended meaning with this statement, but any careful reader is
likely to automatically discern a vast difference in “we think we know” and
actual “knowledge.” Indeed, if we think we know what’s wrong, the first step
would be to garner solid knowledge that would confirm and support our thinking.
Then we would be in a position to act upon the knowledge. In any case, although
I could accept some of his premises, Judt was not able to pique my interest keenly
enough and state his case convincingly enough to win me over with his diatribe.
I believe his overall treatise needed more substance, so I cannot recommend
this book as a good read.

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